I've got a 2003 xtype and have had 2 flat tires in the past 2 weeks. The weather is getting down into the single digits and I was wondering if that has anything to do with it or if its just a common thing on this car.

 

I live in Boston and it's been chilly but nothing below zero...my tires are fine...what tires you have on?

 

macmar, sounds like bad luck or you have some really old rubber on the car and it is cracking, leading to the leaks. Granted, I am assuming you had the tires repaired to fix the leaks. Granted, could also be a bad valve stem, you ran over something on the road, etc. A lot of things can cause tires to go flat. But, no problems to date with a significant number of cars with tires going flat due to cold weather.

 

Did you confirmn the tires are what is bad or could it possibly be the wheels are bent and you are losing air from having a bad bead? If you live in a cold weather clime chances are you have a number of streets that are pot holed or very rough. Could be the wheels are bent enough to let air to escape, especially if you have very low profile tires. Scares the hell out of me driving around here from December until April.

 

I repaired my wheels 6 times(repeat repair) last winter and replaced 4 tires. This is driving around Detroit suburbs with the low profile tires that came with our cars(225/45 - 17). My advice: buy tire road hazard warranty and keep close watch on the air pressure as seasonal temperature changes.

I had to pay $12.95 per tire replacement under the road hazard warranty and gladly pay again to get new tires with the same coverage.

The original wheels are strong on the outside and it always bends on the inside. So while your tire guys can theoretically balance the wheels on the tire machine, you will get imbalance while driving if your wheels are bent. Our X-type is known to be sensitive to any out-of-roundness of wheel/tire.

I'm thinking I need 16 wheels & tires for the winter and the 17 wheels & tires for the summer to minimize trips to the tire shop.